The northern Palestinian coastal city of Acre — fondly referred to as “Um al-Ghareeb” (“The Stranger’s Mother”) — has managed to contain its centuries-old charm within the walls of the old city, the same walls that Napoleon infamously tried, but failed, to conquer. Yet, as with other Palestinian cities or areas within the state of present-day Israel, Acre is continuously subjected to the Israeli occupation policy of gentrification or Judaization, modern-day ethnic cleansing and confiscation of its Palestinian architectural and cultural buildings and houses.

On Oct. 18, hundreds of Palestinians marched in protest of the plan by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and the Israeli Land Authority to sell one of the city’s oldest and most famous khans to private investors, who will transform it into a 200-room hotel. Khan al-Umdan was built by Sheikh Zhahir al-Umar in the early 1760s, and was expanded and completed by Sheikh Ahmad al-Jazzar in 1784. It is now largely closed off to the public, with only one gate open for visitors and tourists.

Despite having been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, the Israeli authorities first tried to sell it off as a commercial tender in 2008, but the initial investor backed out at the last minute. The khan's main gate was then closed. Prior to that year, the Palestinian residents of Acre used the khan as a cultural space, where festivals, summer camps for children and local concerts took place.

Ahmad Joudah, a US-based retired history professor and author of the book Revolt in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century: Leaders, Politics and Social Change in the Islamic World, described khans or caravanserais as part of an old Islamic tradition. According to Joudah, they were built at different stations along main routes that were used by travelers for trade and mail between major cities.